A Pathway to Universal Healthcare in India

An infant in intensive care at the Holy Family Hospital in New Delhi. Credit: Holy Family Hospital.By Nachiket MorBANGALORE, India, Jul 5 2020 (IPS) Universal healthcare (UHC) is an important global goal because of its close links to poverty reduction and enhancement of the growth potential of countries. While several countries can now be said to be well on their way towards achieving this goal, several others, most notably large ones such as India and Nigeria, are decidedly not. Though there are a number of reasons for this, perhaps the most important one has been the position taken by the international development community that an essential prerequisite for beginning work on UHC is government financing of all health expenditures through taxes. This position is untenable, because these governments (including Indian central and state governments), prefer to spend on other development priorities. They also have a low tax base, as a high proportion of the working-age population is employed in the informal sector. Despite the fact that residents of these countries spend large amounts on healthcare, they continue to experience very poor health outcomes As a result, these governments have, for decades, either been unable or unwilling to provide the necessary financial resources for UHC. This has meant that not only has there been no progress on UHC, but there has perhaps even been a regression away from it. A direct consequence of this rigid global position is that scant attenti...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Asia-Pacific Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs Source Type: news